


The Violet Hunger

by gubler



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Alpha Derek Hale, Angst, Bonding, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Hale is a Little Shit, Derek Hale is a Softie, Derek Hale/OFC - Freeform, Derek Has Feelings, Derek Is So Done, Druids, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Good Friend Stiles Stilinski, Healers, Healing Derek Hale, Jealous Derek, Major Original Character(s), Mating Cycles/In Heat, Not Canon Compliant, Other Pack(s), POV Original Female Character, Pining Derek, Protective Derek, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Scott is a Good Friend, Self-Esteem Issues, Sex, Smut, Were-Creatures, Werewolves, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2020-12-21 09:53:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gubler/pseuds/gubler
Summary: "I'm nothing special, I'm not about to go saving the world, so stop making me feel like I'm extraordinary when I'm not. I'm nothing like you," I said, refusing to meet Derek's vibrant green eyes."You're extraordinary if I say you're extraordinary," His voice was laced with authority and I begged myself not to give in to him...but I just didn't have the strength.Violet has been sheltered by her overprotective mother her entire life, at 19 years old she feels like she's experienced nothing. However, a run in with something monstrous one night leads her right into the arms of the ever-mysterious Derek Hale. Perhaps a certain brooding werewolf could be the one to shed light on her family's dark secrets and maybe offer up some of the experiences she's been missing out on.Derek Hale/OFC centric - this is an original storyline fitting in somewhere around season one and two.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my goodness, I started writing this YEARS ago but didn't get it finished but I've been rewatching Teen Wolf from the start and got some serious inspiration and felt like picking up where I left off. So here we are! Comments and constructive criticism welcome. Yey!

The library was the perfect place for solitude, for peacefulness. In the centre of a bustling town like Beacon Hills, it was a great place to escape to. However, it wasn't the kind of escape I had been hoping for. I'd tried to argue with my mother about her choice of the library as my first part-time workplace, but it seemed my arguing had fallen on deaf ears. Because here I was, perched at a desk, stamping dates into the front page of the book's that appeared, faceless in front of me. Day in, day out, I would try and tell myself that I was eighteen, I was legally allowed to disappear without my mother's permission.

"Do you have a science fiction section?" A voice stirred me from my daydreaming and I glanced up at the middle-aged man in front of me, glasses perched on the bridge of his crooked nose.

"Yeah, down there, to your right – if you pass the kids section you've gone too far," I replied quietly, my voice quivering just slightly. The man mumbled a thank you and waddled off down one of the aisles. I glanced quickly at the clock on the far wall, 8:15pm, I had 45 minutes left until I could walk the three miles home. The rain was already pounding against the glass roof of the library – it was moments like this that I cursed not having a car.

It was then that the large, florescent lights began to flicker – thunder clapped outside and lightening lit up the dark sky. Within a few seconds, the entire library was thrown into a state of complete darkness.  
"Crap," I muttered under my breath as I tried to think back to my staff training – I was pretty sure we hadn't covered the correct protocol for acting out a low budget horror movie.

"Miss, would you please turn the lights back on? I'm still in here," The middle-aged man from earlier spoke, his voice muffled by the bookcases in between us.

"It seems to be some kind of power cut, sir, if you give me a few minutes I'll try and…figure something out," I sighed, trying to think on my feet. However, my train of thought was interrupted as I heard the main doors creak open slowly.

"We're having some electrical issues at the minute, could you maybe come back later, or tomorrow?" I said, hoping I was talking loud enough for whoever it was to hear me.

"Is the whole town's power out? Do you know?" The door's slammed closed and I heard the bolt slide along and jam into place.

"Hello?" My heart was thudding so loudly in my chest, I could hardly breathe. I was beginning to wonder if I was having a nightmare of if this was really happening.

"Miss, could you please turn the ligh-" The man’s voice was interrupted by a snarl and a loud crash. What I presumed were bookcases fell to the floor, the pages of the books rustled in an eerie chorus against the cool breeze that had taken over the darkened library. Another shot of lightening lit up the sky and a scream pierced through the blackness, causing me to fall to the floor against the back of the desk. The screams slowed to a moist gurgle and a terrifying silence overcame the building. All of the blood was rushing to my head, my hands clenched against the tiles as I listened as best I could but I was shaking and panting – unable to keep my eyes from jumping around in the pitch dark looking for any sign of motion. That was when I heard it; footsteps, growing louder and louder as they moved closer. I scurried out from behind the counter, depending entirely on my instincts to take me to safety. But it wasn't quick enough, a large, burning, hand gripped around my jean clad leg and pulled me back so hard that my nails dragged against the hard floor.

"Help! Help me! Please!" It was the loudest my voice had ever been, and for just a split second, I was impressed. I scrambled to get away from whatever it was that was pulling me back but it was no use. I was thrown roughly against one of the bookcases, my head cracking against the corner of a shelf and sending me into a wave of confusion and nausea. My hand instinctively went to the pain and came away warm and sticky with blood.

Despite my better judgement I tried to move, I was disorientated in the darkness and unsteady due to the blow to my head but I searched for somewhere to hide – knowing that whatever it was that was inside the library was probably right behind me. My hand found what felt like a large desk and I immediately knew I was close to the computers. I climbed beneath the desk and tried to slow my breathing and steady myself. What was happening? What was in here with me? Warm, salty tears filled my eyes and I forced them closed. I was going to die. I was going to die and I hadn't experienced anything on my list yet. I still hadn't been kissed, I hadn't tasted an alcoholic drink, I hadn't been in a fight…presuming that this didn't count, as I was _clearly_ losing. The lights began to flicker again and my eyes stung and struggled against the glow. As soon as the lights stabilised I pulled myself swiftly to my feet and ran in the direction of the fire exit – only to be grabbed by the hair and pulled back violently. My vision was distorted and uneven…but still, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. A beast, seven feet tall, its skin white and scarred, hovered above me. My mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out.

* * *

Everything was silent; the rain fell from the sky and rolled over my cheeks. I felt like I was drowning, liquid pooled at the back of my throat and I didn't have the strength to cough it up. Suddenly I was lifted up, weightless and floating. The rain wasn't hitting me anymore – I was cold and feather light but the fear still ached deep in my chest. My eyes strained to open and my hands reached up to touch the shooting pain in my head. A repetitive beeping echoed in my ears and I struggled against myself, my heart punching against my ribs. The image of that creature staring back at me was still fresh in my mind and a blood curdling scream pushed its way out from the pit of my stomach.

"You're ok, you're ok, you're safe now," A gentle, female voice sounded from the doorway and I scrambled back against the hospital bed.

"You're at the hospital, your head will hurt but your injuries aren't serious, you'll be ok," The voice came from a nurse, she was young with warm, brown eyes and she smiled sympathetically towards me.

"What h-happened?" I stuttered quietly.

The woman let out a long breath, "We don't know much, the police haven't got any definite information yet and there were no witnesses. At the minute it looks like a robbery gone wrong," She replied.

"A robbery?" I frowned.

"Whoever it was, they apparently took some books from the cage in the back room…no one knows why, they weren't really worth anything, that's what I heard anyway," The nurse said as she leaned against the bed.

"It wasn't a person, it wasn't…I was a witness, I seen what it was and it wasn't a person!" I stated, my voice growing louder and more agitated. The nurse frowned but didn't say anything, she merely glanced at the drip hanging beside me and checked a few things on the monitors and glanced down towards the ground.

"I wouldn't mention that to the police when they get here," She whispered.

"How did I get out? What happened?" I asked, tears were stinging my eyes again and I fought to stop them flowing freely.

A knock on the door broke me away from my conversation with the nurse and she smiled politely at me.  
"Mom, can I talk to you?" Three guys stood in the doorway, one of them was staring directly at me, his eyes bright green and his dark brows heavy with emotion.  
"Excuse me," She patted my arm and moved towards the group gathering in the doorway. I watched as she glanced back towards me and then back towards the guys, she shook her head and touched her hand to her brow in what I presumed was stress or frustration. The boy talking to her pleaded – his eyes were sincere, just like hers. After a few minutes, she stood aside and the three of them entered my room, closing the door quietly behind them.  
"Who a-are you?" I asked, moving up in the bed and tugging at the sheets – I was suddenly very aware of the skin my hospital gown was exposing.

"My name's Scott, this is Stiles and Derek," He motioned to the others, the younger boy moved his hand up in a slight wave and his lips edged into a sympathetic smile – the other man however, his face stayed stern and unmoving, he kept his eyes locked on me.

"You're too young to be police officers," I said, struggling to raise my voice past a whisper.

"No, we're not with the police, although Stiles' dad is the Sheriff…" Scott trailed off before resuming his train of thought, "We need to know what you saw…in the library."

I frowned, "I…I'm not sure."  
"Is there anything you can remember? Even if it sounds crazy, it's ok, you can tell us," Scott said eagerly, “We’re used to crazy,” He finalised.

"I don't even know who you are," I said, my confidence wavering. I never had been one to be impolite or rude, although in all fairness, I'd never really had the opportunity.  
"If I'm honest, I don't even know what I saw. I don't even know how I got out of that place or what happened or…" The tears were there again, I couldn't stop them this time, they flooded down my cheeks and my breath caught in my dry, sore throat.

"This is useless, she doesn't remember anything," The man Scott had introduced as Derek dismissed, throwing his hand into the air and turning away from the bed.

"And that attitude is really helping," Stiles commented sarcastically.

"What's the point in being here if she doesn't remember a thing? We've come down here and wasted time for nothing," Derek shrugged his jacket higher up on his shoulders and turned to leave the room.

"I'm s-s-sorr," I tried to get the words out but they caught between my lips, I closed my eyes and breathed slowly, in and out, "I'm sorry," I finalised and the raven haired man turned, moving back towards the end of the bed.

"Anything you remember, even if it sounds insane, we need to know," He said and I could see the tension in his jaw as he tried to act somewhat civil towards me.

"That nurse, she said not to tell the police anything weird," I said quietly, looking down at my shaking, fumbling hands.

"Like we said, we aren't the police," Scott's expression was kind and unwavering and I began to feel at ease, if only for a second.

"It didn't look like a person," I said, but my voice was so low even I could hardly hear it.

"Then what did it look like?" Derek asked, his tone was hard and demanding and it wasn't doing anything for my nerves.

"Like death," I stated, "I looked at it and I knew I was going to die." My eyes followed Scott's movement as he glanced towards Derek, his brow furrowed.  
"What the hell is this? Stiles I thought I told you to stay home tonight, do you ever listen?" A man in a sheriff's uniform appeared in the doorway and entered the room without waiting for my permission – I was beginning to wonder if my privacy was merely a thing of the past.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I'm merely a figment of your imagination…I'm a mirage," Stiles stood up and moved past the sheriff, disappearing into the hallway.

"If you think of anything or if anything happens, this is my address and my phone number," Scott scribbled quickly on a piece of paper.

"Scott McCall you better get your ass out of here or else you'll be as dead as my son's about to be," The sheriff called, his arms folded across his chest.

"It doesn't matter how crazy you think it is," Scott said quietly, passing me the scrap of paper before he walked out. Derek paused a second before he followed him, his eyes continued to burn into my own before he walked past the sheriff with a deep scowl etched on his features.

"I just need you to answer a few questions," The sheriff began, moving closer to sit down in the chair by the bed. I made the decision then and there, that every question he asked me, I would answer with a lie - all in the hope that the last 24 hours would be wiped from my memory.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter guys! Comments are welcome!

* * *

My mother picked me up the next morning, my night had been filled with visions of pale skinned monsters with terrifying black eyes and having the familiarity of her face was a welcome relief.

"I knew it was too soon for you to be working, these are the kind of things I was trying to keep you away from. I mean who ever heard of a library being robbed? It just shows that nowhere in this forsaken town is safe," My mother rambled as we climbed into her beat up, military green jeep.

"I think perhaps you should concentrate on some further study at home for the next few months, leave employment out of the equation for a while, it's far too dangerous here for a young, naïve girl like you. You could have died," She continued and I couldn't help but mentally shake my head. I clenched my eyes closed and pretended the car was silent, whatever relief I had felt upon my mother’s arrival at the hospital was quickly starting to fade.

The journey from the hospital was a long and arduous one, my mother wouldn’t stop rambling on about how she hadn’t liked the idea of me working in the library from the very start – every time she opened her mouth I had to fight the urge to scream. When we finally arrived home, the large house was unbearably cold. I was unsure if it was the remnants of my concussion or not, but the whole place seemed dull and unfamiliar. My room was just as I had left it, books were piled neatly in the corner and my bed was made, one corner tucked beneath the mattress just as my mother had taught me when I was little. I sat down on the worn out single and let out a long, exasperated sigh.  
"Knock knock," My mother's voice came from the doorway, "It's almost seven thirty, I'd like you to get some rest."

I nodded, my eyes focused on my hands, folded neatly in my lap.

"I don't know what I saw at the library, mom," I said, my voice low and unsteady.

Her eyebrows raised and she folded a strand of greying hair behind her ear, "I'm not entirely sure I want to know, Violet." Her tone was so final and so cold that I wanted to scream and shout.  
"I'm frightened, I feel like I'm losing my mind, I just keep thinking about it over and over again and-" The words were caught in my throat as soon as my mother's voice spoke up.  
"Stop, Violet. I don't want to hear it. Life will go on as it used to, just forget this ever happened," The door closed before I could get another word out and I wanted so badly to yell at my mother in frustration.

I lay in bed for hours, my eyes fixated on the open window in front of me. I watched with blurred eyes as the sky darkened to a deep, aggravated navy blue. In my sleep deprived state, I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket and studied the handwriting. Scott's address and phone number were smudged but still readable through my moistened eyes. I had to tell someone what I had seen, I needed to know if I was crazy or if the beast I had seen was real. Part of me was praying that I was mentally unstable but a twisting in my gut was arguing otherwise. I pulled on a pair of jeans and an oversized, black jumper before walking over to the window. My head was still fuzzy and sore, and the small bruises patterning my body ached and itched against my skin. I held the piece of paper between my teeth as I threw my leg over the window ledge and clumsily edged my way down the guttering. As soon as my feet hit the ground I breathed a sigh of relief and started to run, I had underestimated my own strength as my legs carried me quickly through the woods and across the town borders. After ten minutes of sprinting I had to force myself to pause for a breath, I put my hands on my knees and tried to steady the shake in my overworked muscles – my heart was racing and fear was trickling into my consciousness as the silence of the woodland started to close in on me. This was the latest I had been out of my house in my entire life, something that would have seemed so simple to someone else my age, was extraordinary to me.

"Shouldn't you still be at the hospital?" A gruff voice came from behind me and I jumped back, my foot coming into contact with the curb and causing me to lose my balance. As I prepared for the thump of the ground, Derek grabbed my forearm, pulling me back to my feet. I looked up anxiously, my eyes refusing to meet with his, "Thanks," I muttered.

"What are doing out here?" He asked sternly, a frown creasing his brow.

"I got out of the hospital this afternoon," I replied.

"That doesn't explain why you're out in the middle of the night, wandering around like a lost puppy," My eyes finally lifted to glance at his but almost immediately I averted my gaze. I had never seen anyone like him before, his features were so bold and angular – his jaw so tensed and his lips so pursed. His arms were strong and crossed over his t-shirt clad chest as he waited for me to say something, as usual though, I couldn't get the words to leave my mouth, they were trapped inside me.

"I…I…just…I thought…" I closed my eyes and tried to breathe but it wasn't working. When I finally opened my eyes to check Derek's expression, he was standing with raised eyebrows and butterflies swarmed my stomach, I turned away from him before I managed to speak.  
"I climbed down the gutter…at my house. I needed to talk to Scott or…he said to find him if I remembered…"

"Doesn't your house have a front door?" Derek asked sarcastically.

"I have a curfew," I immediately regretted my answer to his question, I sounded ridiculous.  
"How old are you, twelve?" He huffed a somewhat arrogant, irritated laugh and moved to walk past me, "Come with me, before you hurt yourself trying to get a sentence out," I wanted so badly to stand up to him – to turn away and march off back home as if I didn't have a care in the world. But instead, I followed him, jogging in an effort to keep up with his long-legged strides.

"I'm eighteen, not twelve," I added quietly as I reached his side.

"Do you always sneak out at two in the morning to go marching around to strangers' houses?"

"No…I just-" My voice was interrupted as Derek came to a sudden stand still. I watched him in silence as he looked around, focusing his eyes on something in the distance.  
"Stay here," He said, authority dripping from his tone.

"What?" I asked, my eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"If I tell you to run, you run," With that he had disappeared, his legs carried him off into the distance and as I stood alone in the middle of the deserted road, the pitch dark of night didn't seem quite as enchanting any more. The wind rustled the leaves on the trees behind me and I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to feel safe, but every noise was causing my heartbeat to speed up dramatically. Suddenly however, the rustling of the leaves were the least of my problems - as there was a nightmarish crash and the tumbling of fast, uneven footsteps before Derek came around the corner. I watched as he grew closer and closer, I may not have known him very well, but I was willing to put money on the fact that he looked a little more dishevelled than he usually did.

"Run," He stated simply, his hand gripping gruffly around my wrist and dragging me up the dusty bank and into the thick, moonlight drenched woods. My legs did their best to carry me after Derek but as he jumped over fallen trees and deep trenches, I was lagging horribly behind. A long, ghostly howl echoed through the trees and I found myself craning my head around to look behind me, it was then that I recognised the streak of luminous white flesh as it tore between the towering silhouettes of the woodland. I froze then and there as my foot caught and sent me tumbling forwards. My aching head came in contact with the ground first, followed by my forearms as they scraped along the floor, laced with sharp pine needles and twigs. Deep in the trance of hysteria I tried to claw myself to my feet; hot, moist blood already sticking my knees to the remnants of my jeans.

"Please don't die, please don't die yet, please don't die," I repeated to myself as I ran further into the woods, my breath coming in short, sharp pants and adrenaline forcing my head to succumb to dizziness.

An arm thrust itself out in front of me and I was about to let out a scream but a hand was clasped over my mouth, keeping me quiet. I struggled against the restraint but immediately I was moved so that my eyes met with the cold green glow of Derek's irises. He touched a finger to his lips and removed his hand from my mouth, urging me to stay completely silent. We were hidden beneath a cloak of fading greenery that was so dry that each time I tried to breathe it would crunch ever so slightly, which amidst the intensity of the situation sounded a lot louder than it actually was. Derek pressed me harder into the ground so that I couldn't move and we both lay there, in waiting. My eyes locked onto it immediately and I wanted so badly to run, but I was held firmly in place. Its limbs were long and its skin just as pale as I recalled from the library...it's eyes, dark and menacing, forced tears down my flushed cheeks. I had been right, all those hours spent in the hospital going over the image in my head and trying to make sense of what I had witnessed...I wasn't crazy, it was there right in front of me. And from the look on Derek's face, he could see it too, in all its horrifying glory.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

Although I had probably only been watching the beast for a few seconds, it felt like hours. We both remained fixated as it stood, still as a marble statue just a few metres in front of our makeshift hiding place. Then the most incredible thing happened, it paused - took a long drag of the musky woodland scent of the surrounding location...then left. As soon as it broke into a run, it was out of sight and the darkness was as still and as calm as it had ever been.

"Come on," Derek grumbled, pulling me roughly to my feet.

"What if it comes back?" I asked, my voice was shaking, my eyes wide and for a split second I thought Derek might have looked sympathetic.

"Run faster," He stated.

We sprinted the rest of the way through the woods until we reached a clearing, by which point I was panting and bleary eyed and absolutely, wholly exhausted both physically and mentally. My entire body was drained of all energy.

"What the hell-" I paused, bending over and trying to catch my breath before I continued, "I knew it wasn't human, I knew I wasn't crazy, I seen that right? I just seen that. It happened?" I questioned, my hands running through my tangled hair as Derek took his jacket off and threw it towards me.

"Put that on, if the shock doesn't kill you, the cold probably will," He lifted a cell phone to his ear and paced up and down until somebody on the other end answered.

"I need a favour," He began through gritted teeth and I listened intently whilst I folded my arms into the jacket he'd tossed at me, I tried my very best not to linger on the hypnotising aroma imbedded in the leather.

Within the space of fifteen minutes, a car had pulled up in front of us and Derek climbed into the front seat next to the other boy from the hospital, I had a vague memory he'd been introduced as Stiles. In the back seat, Scott was perched, an anxious expression on his face. I glanced around behind me - I had no idea how far we had travelled from the roadside, I wasn't entirely sure where I was and I was pretty certain there was no way I was going back into those woods on my own any time soon.

"Get in the car," Derek said gruffly but I couldn't help my hesitation.

"I've never really...this goes against everything my mother has ever to told me and I'm a little unsure about whether I'm making a sensible decision here getting into a car with three strangers," I rambled, causing Derek to throw his head back and clench his eyes shut.  
"Didn't you just get chased by something large and supernatural and you're concerned about the three of us?" Stiles asked, hanging over the steering wheel.

"Get in the car or I _put_ you in the car," Derek's tone was laced with impatience and immediately I nodded and climbed into the back seat, a little irritated by my susceptibility to authority.

"Gotcha," I muttered, sinking down into the seat as Stiles drove off down the abandoned woodland trail.

"What was it?" Scott asked, his question was clearly directed towards Derek but nothing but silence filled the car, I watched the rear-view mirror as Stiles lifted his eyebrows to highlight the awkward tension.

The car travelled through main street and into some of the seedier, downtown neighbourhoods and came to a smooth standstill against the sidewalk. Derek got out immediately and opened the door, making his way inside without saying a word.

"He's even tetchier than usual," Stiles muttered and I watched as him and Scott got out the car and went to follow Derek into the building. I however, stayed sat in the car, unable to clear my head of that monster's face. I wanted so badly to pretend that it's threatening appearance had been a mere trick of the light or the aftereffects of a strong painkiller...however, I couldn't. It was etched into my brain and no matter how many times I held my eyes tightly shut and tried to think of anything other than dark woodland and terrifying demons, I couldn't get rid of it.

"Is she going to sit there all night or…?" Stiles directed his question towards Scott but he didn't answer.

"O….kay, must be a full moon thing," He muttered just loud enough for me to hear through the open window, as Scott walked towards the car and opened the passenger door.

"Whatever you seen, it's ok. Trust me, we've all seen our fair share of the unusual in the last few months," Scott was doing his best to comfort me and he held his hand out to assist me out of the car. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to trust any of these people but I couldn't help but wonder what I had to lose; besides, I had just risked my life in an attempt to talk to Scott about what I had seen. I took his hand and he pulled me to my feet - my knees ached beneath my weight and I limped as subtly as I could. I was already embarrassed that I probably looked like hell after my midnight adventure yet Derek had managed to saunter into the building looking like he'd just finished shooting a Calvin Klein ad. I made my way up the stairs as quickly as I could, following the others as they entered into a large loft apartment. It was practically empty apart from a desk and a bed in the far corner. I stood awkwardly in the doorway pulling at the sleeve of the jacket, I had always been a nervous fidgeter and it wasn't as if I'd had a lot of experience in social situations.

"Sit down," Derek's voice reappeared as he put a box down on the table and motioned to one of the rickety chairs by its side.

"I'm not sure if I need to be here…" I mumbled, my feet firmly planted on the wooden floor.

"You need to be here until we figure out why you're being hunted by a primal."

"What do...I don't understand?" I frowned.

"So you do know what it is?" Scott asked.

"Primal's are werewolves who've given so much of their human self to the animal that their human form has started to mutate, the one that followed her tonight was older but not fully transformed," He paused, glancing towards me as I stood wide eyed, "Come here, sit down and I'll fix that up before you bleed all over my floor," Derek motioned towards my scraped forehead and I reluctantly walked over to him. He pulled the chair in front of him and I sat down, I hadn't realised how weak I felt until I relaxed against the wood. My entire body jumped when Derek pressed a piece of cotton wool to my head and he raised his eyebrows.

"Sit still," He ordered.

"If that thing is such an animal then why did it decide to rob a library, if you ask me that doesn't make sense," Stiles frowned and I tried my best to drown out whatever they were talking about - this was all just a little bit too peculiar for me to handle.

"Nobody asked you," Derek highlighted with a sarcastic smirk that lasted just a few seconds.

"Stiles is right, those books are pretty useless unless you can control yourself long enough to read them," Scott scoffed in confusion.

"Can I go yet? My head really is fine, I mean thanks and everything but..." I got to my feet, my balance was slightly off - possibly due to the head injury or perhaps due to the fact it was 4am, all the same I moved to make my way towards the exit.

"I hope you find your...thing...but I think I'll just go back to real life and never ever leave my house ever again," I finalised, turning around and reaching for the door handle - only for something to wrap tightly around my wrist. I turned abruptly to see Derek standing there, his emerald, expressionless eyes staring down at me.

"You aren't leaving," He said simply.

"He's right, Violet," Scott said, standing up and walking a little closer to us, "You should wait until it's light out, Stiles will drive you home in a couple of hours."

"That's me, designated driver," Stiles mocked.

"No," Derek interrupted, "She isn't going home for a while."

"You can't keep me here for no reason and against my will, I know I don't get out much but I'm at least 60 percent sure that that would be a crime," I argued quietly, pulling my arm out of Derek's grasp.

"Derek?" Scott frowned, looking towards the raven-haired male.

"You asked why a primal would need those books...it wouldn't," He cocked his head to the side, watching me where I stood, my entire body shaking with confusion and fear.

"It was a cover up, the primal was hunting her," Derek's eyes stared deep into mine whilst he spoke.

"Why?" Stiles questioned. There was a long, deafening silence before Derek replied.

"I don't know yet...but I'm not letting her go until I figure it out."

"Would one of you guys like to explain to him that that would be considered kidnapping?" I asked, tripping over my own words as I stared towards Scott and Stiles with wide, unblinking eyes. They both looked towards each other.

"I'm so leaving," Urgently I turned to open the door for a second time, only for Derek's hand to slam back against it, I was certain that there would be a dent beneath his palm.

"Do you want to be ripped apart limb from limb? Is that on your to-do list for the day? Because that's what it'll do if you leave here," Derek argued, his intimidating frame towering over me.

"I could go home, I won't go outside I swear, I'll stay safe there, I'll be safe," I was verging on hysterical.

"We could take it in shifts, Derek. We could watch her house, make sure that thing stays away until we work out what we're going to do," Scott suggested but I wasn't hopeful.

"Won't work," Derek finalised, "When we were in the woods I noticed something, the primal couldn't smell her when I was near her, I was masking her scent. Her house will smell like her, it's the first place it'll go, it's probably there already...a couple of werewolves won't stop it."

"Werewolves?" I choked, "You're crazy, you're all crazy."

"So if she's here it won't find her," Stiles clarified.

"I'm going to throw up," My hand didn't make it to my mouth in time to stop myself, my stomach lurched forward too suddenly. Well, if werewolves didn't kill me first, the embarrassment sure as hell would.

* * *

My eyelids refused to open. My head was already pounding and I wanted nothing more than to try and will myself back to sleep. Slowly and reluctantly, I opened one eye and was immediately confused. I sat up and examined my surroundings and sure enough the events of last night came flooding back to me. I shifted to my feet and wobbled slightly before I stumbled forwards, shielding my eyes from the sun streaming in through the windows. My movements halted all of a sudden, my mouth opening just a little as my eyes settled upon the large tattoo between Derek's muscular shoulder blades.

"H...I…" I attempted, my voice squeaking an octave above its normal pitch. Derek pulled himself up with one hand two, three, four more times before he dropped and turned around to face me. My eyes moved down his chest and stomach, taking note of the line of dark hair below his belly button. With great difficulty, I averted my eyes and held them closed for a second, shaking my head.

"S...sorry, I would have knocked but there's...no door…" I babbled nervously, looking back towards Derek in the hope that he'd put on a shirt, more for the sake of my own health as opposed to his. He grabbed a towel and wiped it over his face and neck and smirked as he threw it down.  
"You look like you're about to have a stroke," He said, his smirk fading as he grabbed a bottle of water from the table and took a long, slow swig. I gulped, trying to moisten my mouth and throat as best I could but it was no use, I desperately wanted to grab that bottle of water from his hand and down it.

"I'm not…" I replied "I don't think...I'm not sure, I've never had a stroke before, there could be a possibility that I'm having a small stroke. Are strokes stress related? Is it really warm in here? I'm sweating, are you sweating? Of course you're sweating," I scoffed, tossing my hand up in the air and motioning towards Derek's glistening abdomen, "You've been working out and it's like a thousand degrees in here of course you're sweating. I'm definitely...sweaty."

Derek raised his eyebrows, "You done?"

"Oh yeah, I'm done," I sighed, sitting down heavily in one of the chairs at the old table and letting my head collapse forward against the wood, "Ow." I mumbled against my arm as the cut on my forehead ached.

"Let me see," Derek said and I lifted my head, my heart speeding up dramatically when I spotted him walking towards me. He stopped right in front of me, he was so close I could _smell _him...I'd never been this close to a half-naked man before. Come to think of it, I'd never been this close to anyone before...except my mom, but I was pretty sure that didn't count. His fingertips lightly pressed against the cut on my forehead and he frowned in concentration.

"Looks fine, there's ice in the freezer if it hurts," Derek's tone was dismissive and uninterested as he turned and walked towards the small kitchenette.

"To be honest I don't think my headache has anything to do with the two separate head injuries I've suffered in the last three days. It's probably more to do with the fact that last night there was a lot of talk of things that I was under the impression didn't actually exist…werewolves and big, creepy, boogeymen creatures that want to eat me, included."

Derek reappeared from the kitchen with a mug of steaming coffee and put it down in front of me.  
"Thanks, I appreciate you not being mean about my lack of supernatural knowledge...and also, thank you for not eating me...since I'm presuming the werewolf thing wasn't a joke. If it is I feel pretty dumb right now," I continued and swiftly, Derek picked the cup of coffee up again and frowned.  
"On second thought, I don't want to see you on caffeine, you talk enough as it is," He sat down, taking a gulp from the mug and putting it to one side.

"Sorry," I added, looking down towards my hands, "I'm terrified. I mean, I've gone from being an 19 year old recluse to being sat in some guy's house...loft...apartment thing, that I don't even know and everyone around me keeps talking about stuff that I thought only existed in fantasy novels and last night I seen something that no matter how hard I try, I can't explain," I finished and for the first time, Derek was looking at me without some smug or irritated expression, in a gesture of kindness, he pushed the cup of coffee back to me and I silently accepted it for the second time round.

"Here's what's going to happen," He started, "You're going to stay here, unless you want to get yourself killed."

"My mother will probably call the police once she realises I'm missing," I replied matter-of-factly.

Derek shrugged, "You're nineteen, you're technically an adult, text her and tell her you're staying with a friend for a while."

I chewed anxiously on my lip, already embarrassed by what I was about to say, "She doesn't believe in cell phones."  
Derek rolled his eyes, "Then call her on the house phone, does she believe in house phones?" He mocked.

"Ok...but...I don't have any friends I could be staying with...it's not a realistic excuse."

"Haven't you ever lied to your mom before?" I shook my head in reply to Derek's question and for a second he looked genuinely surprised.

"Just say what you have to say, Violet," Derek finalised.

"Hey, that's my name," I grinned and he turned to frown at me.  
"I feel less like I've been kidnapped if you use my actual name…" I clarified and he nodded somewhat reluctantly before he turned and picked up his cell phone and tossed it towards me. Of course, with my terrible reflexes the phone tumbled to the floor and I winced.  
"Sorry," I muttered, watching as Derek walked off, shaking his head.

I must have been sat there at the table for at least an hour, I passed the cell phone between my hands as I thought about exactly what I could say to my mother. She had never been the easiest person to talk to, she was silent the majority of the time - not to mention about as affectionate as a slap in the face. What was I supposed to tell her? _Oh hey mom, I've been kidnapped by a bunch of so called werewolves because I'm being hunted by something even more terrifying for some strange, mysterious reason that no one understands yet...but it's ok because the guy that's holding me hostage is really, really beautiful._ Since my mother could be a little strange at times, I couldn't be precise about how that statement would truly affect her.

Eventually, I punched the number into Derek's phone and waited impatiently for an answer.

"Violet? Is that you? Violet?" My mother's frantic tone sounded at the other end of the telephone and for a second I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi…" I replied.

"Where in God's name are you? Do you know what you've put me through? Do you know what was going through my head when I couldn't find you this morning? Where are you? Are you coming home now? Do I need to come and collect you?" Suddenly I knew where I had gotten my nervous rambling from.

"I'm not coming home for a while," I blurted out, trying to ignore Derek as he entered again, thankfully this time he was wearing actual clothes and didn't massively distract me from my train of thought.

"What are you talking about?"  
I paused for a split second before I answered, "I'm fine, I just think I need time away...from the house...I need to…" My attempt at an excuse was pathetic.  
"I'm an adult, you can't tell me what to do any more," Immediately it was like a switch flicked in my head and the floodgates opened - I couldn't stop myself from talking.

"I never should have listened to you in the first place, I could've gone to college or made friends or had a career by now. All you care about is yourself, you just want to make sure you're not locked in that big old house all on your own for the rest of your life. If dad was alive, he would tell you that you've turned into a psychotic old hag with an inability to love your only child," My hands fumbled for the disconnect button and I frantically pushed it before throwing the phone away.

Derek's eyes widened ever so slightly and his eyebrows raised as he grabbed his phone effortlessly out of the air.

"Well...that's that taken care of," He commented.

I put my hands over my mouth and mumbled, "I can't believe I just said that, after everything that's happened...she didn't deserve that…" I began pacing up and down the loft whilst Derek looked on.

"I mean, she did deserve it, sort of...did she?"  
"To be honest I don't care as long as I'm not going to get arrested any time soon," Derek replied as he pulled his jacket on, I guess he was right. If it got my mom off my back for a while until I figured out what the hell was going on...it was probably worth it.  
"I do feel a little better," I added "In a sort of guilt with a gooey relief centre sort of way…cruel to be kind and all that."

"Could you please try and stop talking?" Derek suggested impatiently.

"I'm a nineteen year old girl who's only social activity was working the late shift at a library...I'll be talking for as long as there's someone to listen, I owe it to my social and personal development to make up for lost time don't you think?"  
"Get out," Derek opened the door and held it open for me.

"Where are we going?" I frowned.  
"To find witnesses, the more people around the less likely I am to kill you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That gif *shudders* - anyhoo, enjoy this chapter. Plot & bonding ensue!

* * *

Derek's driving was terrifying, he swung his car around corners rapidly before coming to a sudden, very much welcomed, stop.

"Was it really necessary to drive like that? There's no time limit on an abduction you know," I joked, unfastening my seatbelt.

"Like what?" He frowned.  
"Never mind," I replied, climbing out of the car and closing the door behind me, "What are we doing here?" The confusion was evident in my voice as I came to a standstill outside the tall iron gates.  
"There's someone here we should talk to," Derek replied, "He might be able to give us some information about the primal."  
"Can I just ask you something before we go in there?" I began quietly, already mentally preparing myself for Derek's judgmental stare. He took a long, deep inhalation of oxygen as if he were preparing himself for what I was about to say.  
"This thing...the primal, how likely is it that it's going to end up killing me anyways? Despite all of this random effort on yours and your...posse's attempts to help me?"

"First of all, no one has used the word posse since the 80's, secondly, without someone of a supernatural persuasion helping you...you don't stand a chance."

Eichen House was freezing, the marble flooring and high ceilings didn't exactly help hold in any warmth. There was a sour faced woman at the reception and I stood close to Derek as he did all of the talking.  
"You're not on the list," The employee stated bluntly, her eyes barely lifting to meet Derek's.  
"We just have a few question's for him, it'll only take ten minutes, tops," Derek replied and I watched as the woman just slowly shook her head.  
"If there's no name on the list, you can't visit. Get in touch with the on-call doctor if you're so desperate to talk to Mr Frederick," She stopped her argument the second her eyes met with Derek's and I had to stop myself from audibly guffawing as he flashed her a wide, white toothed grin.

"Would it help if I said please?" His grin turned to a flirtatious smirk.

She groaned audibly, "I can give you fifteen minutes, it's rec time, his door will be open," The receptionist glanced behind her and pushed her finger against a button, the security door alongside her buzzed open in retaliation.

"Yes ma'am," Derek replied.  
"You're such a whore," I laughed as I followed Derek down the hallway, by this point his face was back to its serious self.

"Excuse me?" He frowned, coming to a standstill in front of me and folding his large, burly arms over his firm chest. Instantly I regretted my thoughtless attempt at humour. I bit down on my bottom lip to stop it shaking and pulled at the sleeves of my sweater.  
"I...well...it's just you...y-you were…" The words stuttered and twisted in my mouth and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to string a sentence together with him looking down at me like that.  
"Little tip, don't make smart ass comments to the guy trying to save you, especially not when you can't follow through on the insults," He said, turning and storming down the hallway. I wanted to punch myself in the face, note to self - keep mouth shut.

Room 347 was open just like the receptionist had said, I watched anxiously as Derek knocked before entering without any verbal permission. I followed him a little reluctantly, still unsure of what Derek was going to ask this guy. Was he some kind of weird, supernatural monster expert? Afterall, he was in an insane asylum, so surely he couldn't be a massively reliable source.

"Mr Frederick," Derek's voice was loud and booming, it filled the box room fully and I winced. The man he had addressed was sat a desk, his hand shaking as he scribbled notes on a piece of scrap paper. His hair was dark and greying, his facial hair was long and growing in continuous tangles past his chin.  
"Who the hell are you?" He asked gruffly, the hint of a southern accent was hidden amongst his words.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about primal's," Derek clearly wasn't wasting any time with polite chit chat.  
"No, no, no, no," He began, "I'm not falling for this again, the last time I had anything to do with those things I ended up rotting in this place! I ain't going there again, no, no way."  
"You see this young, pretty girl here with the big brown eyes? This is Violet," Derek pointed towards me and I tried to act as if the word _pretty _wasn't rolling around in my head, "If you don't tell me everything you know, she'll be dead in a week. If I were you, I wouldn't want that on my conscience," It was amazing to watch - the way that Derek turned on this air of authority and danger within a matter of seconds. I studied him as he knelt down in front of the man, a strange, domineering expression across his face. Mr Frederick gulped, but impressively kept his nerve.

"If it really is a primal, sweet little thing like her won't last the night, never mind the week," Mr Frederick laughed, turning his attention away from Derek and back to his desk. Before I had a chance to register what he had said, Derek brought his fist crashing down onto the desktop, causing it to split into two frail, splintered pieces.

"Tell me, or this table's not the only thing that gets broken in half," Derek hissed, his face just inches from Frederick's.  
"Do you think you stand a chance, _wolf_?" He spat out the final word, beads of saliva travelling through the space between him and Derek. Within a second, Derek had the older man up against the wall with a thud, his hand wrapped around his throat - only this time, his nails were elongated, pressing against Mr Frederick's pulsing jugular. My mouth dropped open when I noticed Derek's eyes, glowing a fierce crimson.

"Crap," I mumbled and tried to stop myself from saying anything else by pressing the palm of my hand against my mouth. I was trying so hard not to be terrified but my heart was threatening to explode in my chest and my stomach felt as though I'd just been the victim of a very successful drop kick.

"Tell me!" Derek growled and in that moment I realised I hadn't truly believed any of this was real. The idea that werewolves and monsters really existed had previously been a sort of invisible possibility...but now, it was right there in front of me. Their existence was confirmed and this time not even a shirtless Derek was going to be enough to distract me - and that was saying something.

"If a primal really wanted her dead, she'd be cold by now," The man grunted, each word seemed a struggle to choke out as Derek's clawed hand was still tightly gripped around his neck.

"Come on Frederick, you've got to give me more than that if you want to keep your head attached to the rest of your body," Derek laughed coldly as he let go of the man, his nails returning to normal and his eyes back to their natural shade of emerald.

"Primal's are unpredictable, fierce...they're like rabid dogs. You wolves, you're bad enough but at least you have a sense of control, of right and wrong, primal's are werewolves on steroids," Frederick stated, glancing towards me before he continued, "Figuratively of course." He moved past Derek and began fiddling with a load of the pieces of paper scattered across the remnants of his work desk.  
"Look into these police reports and news articles," Frederick started passing pieces of scrap paper to Derek who glanced at it with an arched eyebrow.  
"Trust me, there's a lot more info out there than you'd expect," He paused and looked at me with a peculiar emotion in his eyes, it looked almost like sympathy.

"Another thing you might want to keep in mind, primal's are far more territorial than normal werewolves...they'd do anything to protect their pack and they'd make a fine example of anyone willing to endanger their family. If you've seen one primal you best be smart enough to believe there's ten more behind it, maybe more than that," Derek snatched the pieces of paper from Frederick just as there was a knock on the door.  
"Fifteen minutes are up, you need to leave," The receptionist from earlier was standing in the doorway, nervously glancing over her shoulder and tapping her heeled foot.

"We'll be back before the end of the week, you best have something new to tell me by then," Derek stated as he walked past me. I turned to follow but Frederick's calloused, aged hand caught my arm and pulled me back. I struggled against him for a second until he pushed his lips to my ear, his gruff beard scratching at my cheek.  
"Get out of Beacon Hills while you can, these beasts may be beautiful but they will maul you like a moth does silk. Trust your instincts and run," Frederick was pushed away from me within seconds, Derek tensed himself in front of me and hauled me towards the exit - I could only imagine the glare shared between the two men once my back was turned.

"What did he say to you?" Derek asked as we got back to the car, my immediate reaction was to tell him everything Frederick had said...but for some reason, the words didn't leave my lips.

"Nothing…" I replied swiftly "He was just rambling, I hear it's a characteristic of crazy people," The look on Derek's face told me that he knew I was lying. 

"If I'm going to help you, you have to trust me," Derek said, his voice gentler than I'd been expecting given the irritated look on his face.

"I'm sorry I called you a whore," I stammered, resulting in Derek's lips curling into a smile as his hands gripped the steering wheel.

The loft was completely silent when we got back and Derek didn't make any effort to change that. He walked in and dumped a pile of old newspaper articles and documents onto the dining table and sat down with a sigh as he started reading through the first one. I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room and glanced around, after a few minutes I could feel Derek's eyes on me and I looked back to where he was sat.  
"Feel free to chip in whenever you feel like it," He quipped.

"Sorry…" I hurriedly walked over and sat opposite him. He threw half the pile of articles towards me and I started to scan my eyes over the page, just as my stomach started to grumble. I folded my arms around my abdomen and tried to ignore it, but the second growl was a hell of a lot louder than the first.

Derek slapped the paper he was reading down onto the table and let out a long, slow breath, "Even your stomach is irritating."

"I'm sorry, I don't know about you werewolves but humans need to eat, and nothing has passed these lips in what feel like a decade. I'm starving," Derek pushed himself up out of his chair and as he stormed off out of the room I could have sworn that he growled, like, actually _growled_. The very thought provoked fear deep within me, but it also stirred something else in the pit of my stomach...I did my best to ignore my hormonal reactions to Derek's somewhat animalistic gestures.

I started reading through the articles as quickly as I could without getting lazy about it, my eyes were straining against the words - if only I'd remembered to pick up my glasses. A loud thump caused me to jump and I glanced up to see Derek stood there, having just put a plate down in front of me with two sandwiches on it.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "Seriously?" My lips twisted into a smile and Derek looked embarrassed for a second.

"You either eat that or you starve, it's pretty simple," He grunted and I silently took a large bite out of the sandwich, revelling in the sweet and salty mix of jelly and peanut butter.

"I didn't take you to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich kinda guy," I said light-heartedly as I continued eating.

"Yeah, well," Derek mumbled in return.  
"Can I ask you something?"  
Derek groaned and looked over towards me, "You can ask, can't guarantee I'll answer."

"Why do you care so much if this primal thing kills me or not? Surely you've got bigger werewolf fish of your own to fry," I paused, "On second thought, werewolf fish don't exist, right? Because they sound terrifying."

Derek let out a long, frustrated sounding sigh, "As irritating as you are, I'm pretty sure you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's enough of us caught up in this mess, a relatively nice girl like you shouldn't be forced to deal with it too," His answer caught me off guard and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.  
"You think I'm nice?" I asked with a grin and Derek just shook his head.

"I also said irritating," He clarified.  
"Yeah, but you _also_ said nice," I pointed out with a somewhat cheesy wink.

"Can I ask you a question now?"  
I shrugged, "It's only fair, I guess."  
"What's the deal with you? Are you a hermit or something? Seems to me you've barely been let outdoors." I averted my eyes and examined the table closely, running my fingertips over the wood and chewing on my cheeks.  
"I don't know," I said quietly, my guard going up a little, "My mom's pretty protective. Until this happened I guess I didn't even know I was that different."

"What's the story with your mom?" Derek frowned, his eyes finally leaving the pieces of paper in front of him.

"She's...she's fragile," I muttered, "She's always kept me pretty separate from everyone else but, my dad died a few years ago and since then she's just gotten worse. She didn't have a lot of faith in this world when he was still around so, when he died I think that last piece of trust just faded away," Derek's brow furrowed and he lifted his chin in a nod of acknowledgment.

"Why didn't you just leave?" He asked.

"I never had a reason to leave...I might be sheltered but I'm comfortable, I _was_ comfortable," My eyes glanced down to the floor, it was as if Derek knew that I was lying to myself and I could feel his eyes burying themselves into me.  
"Comfortable isn't happy," Derek remarked.

"I guess it isn't," I smiled but the expression was laced with sadness and I figured Derek could tell he'd broached upon a subject that was a little delicate.

"Eat the sandwich," He motioned towards the plate and resumed his reading. A few minutes of silence followed before Derek's voice broke through the tension once again.

"What was your father's name?"

"Rhodes...Rhodes Whitcomb."

"How did he die?" He asked, and I had a feeling there was more to his question than meets the eye.

"Suicide," I replied quietly, the word was thick in my throat and it made me feel sick to my stomach.

"Where?" Derek asked, his tone was even more serious than it had been previously.

I frowned, "He was found in the woods outside our house...what does it matter? What's with all the questions all of a sudden, this is the chattiest you've been since I met you and quite frankly it's creeping me out."

"You didn't think to mention that?" Derek slapped the article he had been reading down on the table in front of me, his huge frame towered above me and the frustration was clear on his face. I looked down at the piece of paper, it was an autopsy report - my father's. Derek's finger was pointing directly towards a close up of a large spiral, painted in dark ink on my father's pale forehead. I averted my eyes, clenching them shut.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked, my voice a mere whisper.

"Did your mother ever explain to you why she wanted to keep you inside all these years? Why she kept you out of the town and away from people, closed off?"  
"No, she never told me, I never asked, I didn't see the point," My voice was growing louder and angrier and I stood up from my seat.

Derek's jaw was tense as he looked off to the side, clearly in deep thought.

"That spiral is the symbol for revenge amongst werewolf packs," Derek stated, "I'm willing to put money on the fact that it wasn't your mom's loss of trust in humanity that made her lock you up all this time."  
"What are you talking about?" I yelled, stomping my foot on the ground below me. I had barely even noticed how close I was standing to Derek, my arms folded over my chest as I tried to keep my stance strong.

"Come on," Derek's hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me out of the loft and down the stairs, he was walking so fast that my feet were tripping over themselves trying to keep up.

"What the hell?!" I shouted as he threw me roughly into the car.

"If this primal is looking for revenge on your family, I need to know," With that statement, Derek's foot hit the accelerator.

Derek's car raced against the darkness, he steered smoothly around sharp corners yet I still found that my hands were clenched tightly against the seat. Things had gone from being calm and somewhat comfortable to being terrifying all over again. Derek swerved into the driveway of my family home and brought the car to an abrupt stop. The windows of the farmhouse were all lit up and as soon as Derek turned the engine off, he was up and out the car quicker than my eyes could follow him.

His hand had barely touched against the worn wood of the front door when it exploded against him, knocking him several feet back. My first instinct was to run from the car and towards Derek, who lay unmoving on the gravelled drive - but as soon as my eyes locked on the large, pale skinned beast walking towards him, I froze. My eyes followed the monster as it walked in Derek's direction, its strangely human body swayed from side to side slowly and heavily. I forced myself to look away and fumbled around the car in the hope that I would find a weapon or something to defend myself if it came down to it, but my head was too busy with worry. Was my mother still alive? Would Derek survive a fight with the primal? What would happen to me if Derek did die?

That thought frightened me the most, my entire life was planted on the shaky foundation that Derek, this man I had known for all of five minutes, would be able to keep me safe. My attention shot back to the primal and I was overwhelmed with the need to do something. Its large, sharp clawed hands wrapped around Derek's throat and lifted him off the ground with just the slightest of strains. Before I could talk myself out of it, I opened the car door and made a break for it. My legs were still aching and unsteady, but I ran as quickly as I could towards the farmhouse, I burst through the door unsure of what I was supposed to do next.

"Violet," I spun around on my heel and came face to face with my mother. Her hand was clasped around her throat, crimson was leaking from between her fingers.  
"Mom, what- are you...what should I do?" I asked urgently, my own hands wrapping around the large gash that was etched across her neck.  
"I will be fine," She replied, "This will pass, but you must leave here. Get out, leave now before he realises it's you," There was a crash and I turned my attention to outside - an animalistic roar echoed against the trees and I could see Derek wrapped up in a fight with the primal.

"Go Violet!" My mom hissed quietly.

"I'm not leaving without you and Derek," I snapped.

"Stop being so stupid and listen to me! That werewolf can't save you, leave," I had never seen my mom act so emotional; it was out of character for her. Despite there being the usual chill to her voice, she was sincere all the same, which was more than I could say about the majority of our conversations. As I was mid thought, something in my head clicked.

"You said werewolf," I muttered, "You know, you know about all of this," I frowned, genuine betrayal laced my words and I wanted so badly to demand answers but I was knocked sideways. I landed with a thud on the dry dirt outside and my previous injuries, although mild, tensed with the shock.

The primal was above me within seconds, every part of me was trembling as I prepared myself for what I presumed would be imminent death. I reluctantly studied every part of it as it stood over me, it's face was long with high cheekbones and sharp, fierce features. Its eyes were a pale, icy blue - almost lifeless. Its lips lifted over sharp, wide teeth and it pressed its face against the skin of my neck. I was convinced in that moment that my life was over and it surprised me just how calm I was. Afterall, I had never really lived...so I guess I didn't really know what I was missing in the first place. As I waited for the inevitable tear of flesh, I was stunned when the primal did nothing but breathe in, once, twice; deep, long, shaking inhalations. My eyes connected with the primal's for another split second before it dived off into the darkened woods.

I struggled to my feet, slightly winded by the knock to the ground I had taken and ran over to Derek. He was sitting up, his hand pressed against his stomach as thick, black blood pooled between his fingers.

"What can I do?" I asked when I reached his side.

"Drive me home, preferably without killing me," His answer was quick but his discomfort was clear in his tone and that worried me - I'd only known him for a little while, but so far I hadn't heard his voice waver in the slightest.

"What about my mom?" I had barely finished the sentence when I turned my head to see my mother with her arms folded across her stomach, an angry and determined scowl was creasing her brow – her neck was healed.

"Can you stand?" I asked, already wrapping my arm around him and trying my hardest to support some of his weight. He didn't answer verbally, instead he just leaned against me a little and we walked at a snail’s pace towards the car.

"Violet-" My mother spoke, but I cut her off swiftly.

"Please just...save it, I'm not sure I can digest anymore of your bullshit right now," I replied, not waiting to witness the surprise on my mother's face - Derek's expression was enough.

"What?" I asked as I opened the car door and put him inside with great difficulty.

"Nothing," He grunted, clenching his eyes shut.

"She's clearly been keeping secrets from me for presumably my entire life, sorry if I sound a little irritated," I justified and Derek replied with a nonchalant shrug.  
"Once I've put all of the questions in my head into some sort of sensible order...I'll come back and face her," I continued - knowing that I was babbling.  
"Aren't you supposed to have some kind of super werewolf healing ability thingy?" I questioned, changing the subject and slamming the door to the driver's side.  
"That thing...it managed to get wolfsbane into my system. I'm guessing it's claws were tainted," I raised an eyebrow and looked over to him.

"I don't have the strength to explain anything else to you right now, just drive back to the loft and give me a few hours, I'll be fine…I'm not sure about you though."  
I snapped around to look at him, "What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Just wondering where that little outburst came from, I'm sensing a lot of pent up bitterness when it comes to your mom."  
"You'd feel pretty bitter too if you found out the only person you've ever trusted appears to have spent your entire life lying to you."

I started the engine with an unsteady hand and started to drive, trying my best not to look in the rear-view mirror.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

We burst through the door to the loft clumsily, Derek was leaning heavily on my side, his arm slung over my shoulder. He collapsed in a heap on the floor almost immediately and I did my best to pull him further into the room.

"If you ask me, I think you need to lay off the sandwiches," I grunted, my eyes fell on Derek's wound and I tried my best to gulp down my nerves.

"What should I do?" I asked frantically, Derek's breathing was ragged and my hands were starting to shake with the prospect of being given responsibility.

"You have to burn it," Derek breathed and his back hit the ground with a thud.

"Burn what?!" The question hung in the air for a moment before Derek nodded towards the desk behind me.  
"Get the lighter and the letter opener, it's not difficult," He hissed, his eyes flaming red for a split second, causing me to jump back. I watched as he clenched his eyes shut and took in an unsteady breath.

"I'll talk you through it," Derek's eyes opened again and I was relieved to see they had returned to their natural green hue. I turned and picked up the letter opener and fumbled to find the lighter, once I'd grasped it I took to my knees at Derek's side. The heat from his body was radiating towards me and my hands began to sweat.  
"It's fine, I'll heal," Derek winced, "You need to help me take my shirt off." My eyebrows lifted and my eyes grew wide.

"Seriously?" Derek groaned, "I'll only heal if I'm not dead, come on," With that I pulled his t shirt up over his toned stomach before placing my hand beneath his neck and lifting the material over his head. For a split second I thought his eyes connected with mine, but he averted them too quickly for me to be certain.

"Sorry, my hands are cold," I mumbled, rubbing my palms down the thighs of my jeans.

"Heat the blade with the lighter until it blackens," Derek changed the subject swiftly, beads of moisture were forming on his brow and pooling at his collarbone. I did as Derek had asked and held the light beneath the sharp metal of the letter opener until it's shine was replaced with a dull charcoal fog.

"I'm not sure I like where this is going," My voice was low and shaky.

"I need you to burn the wound from the inside," Derek stated, his teeth clenched together.

"Yup...I knew this wasn't going to end well," I said, causing Derek to glance at me in irritation, "For both of us, clearly not just me…sorry, am I being insensitive? It's urgent situations like this where my lack of social experience really shows..."  
"Just get it over with," Derek uttered apathetically.

"What do I do? Just...put it in there?" I asked, staring at Derek's deep, sharp wound as it oozed thick black blood. In a split second, Derek grabbed my hand and moved it towards the gash with such force I made a somewhat humiliating screech. His flesh sizzled in angry retaliation and I forced my eyes to close as Derek let out a blood curdling scream that slowly transformed into a guttural growl. His hand tightened around mine, holding the white-hot blade against his injured abdomen. A dark, greyish smoke danced from between the split skin and disappeared in the air above us before Derek's body relaxed against the wooden floorboards.

"Is it stupid to ask if you're ok?" I asked quietly after a minute and Derek opened his eyes to look at me.  
"I'll be fine," He replied, "You did good." The praise made my heart flutter for a split second before I caught myself, I put the letter opener and the lighter down and stood up.  
"I'll get a cloth...or something…" I walked into the kitchen and picked up the first towel I spotted, I filled a shallow bowl with water and made my way back towards Derek - who was still lying, deathly still upon the floor, his shirt discarded and face uncharacteristically flushed. I moistened the cloth and pressed it against the wound, which was still looking pretty horrifying in itself.

"You don't have to do that," Derek said, making an attempt to sit up and reach for his shirt.  
"Stop," I said, "I don't know much about werewolves, but that hasn't healed yet so why don't you just take it easy for a second and let me pretend that I have a clue about this kind of thing," The reluctance was evident in Derek's eyes as he relaxed back down on the ground. I gently dabbed his injury with the cloth repeatedly, trying to ignore my racing heartbeat at the sight of his bare chest and stomach.

"Thank you, by the way," Derek cleared his throat and his eyes met with mine. I let out a nervous laugh and frowned.  
"For what?"  
"You could've left me, I would've understood if you had."  
"You didn't need me to get out of there," I scoffed.

"No," He smirked lazily, "But it made things a little easier."

"Don't thank me...I got you into this whole load of crap. Me and my stupid mother and her stupid secrets and…" I took note of the fact I hadn't moved my hand from Derek's stomach in at least three minutes. My eyes moved to check his expression and I was shocked to find him staring right back at me. His stomach tensed as he sat up with a struggle and his hand reached for mine and moved it away from his bare skin. His face was just inches from mine and I swallowed dryly.

"Do I make you nervous?" Derek asked, and his voice had taken on a tone that was both seductive and frightening.

"I'm not sure," I replied, "I'm having trouble trusting myself these days," There was an ache in the pit of my stomach, all my muscles were tense in preparation for what might happen next.

"Do I look nervous?" I asked quietly, he was so close I could smell the warm, musky scent of his sweat.

"You look nervous," He clarified, "You smell frightened...amongst other things," Derek paused and I forced myself to look away from him, his glare was too much - too intense.  
"Excuse me," I clumsily pushed myself to my feet and all but ran towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind me

The small room was lit with fluorescent lights, which didn't do any favours for my reflection in the large mirror on the far wall. I stared at myself in silence, squinting as I tried to calm my breathing. My dark auburn hair was falling in messy, thick kinks and my usually pale face was flushed bright red from the embarrassment. Although my eyes were usually my best feature, they were staring back at me wide and cushioned by tired dark circles. I looked away and ran the cold tap before splashing myself with the water.

It was moments like this that I couldn't help but wish I'd been rescued by someone unattractive because clearly my hormones were wreaking havoc.

I had been standing staring at my reflection for a good fifteen minutes when the door to the bathroom opened with a low, rumbling creek. Derek was leaning against the doorframe, supporting himself against the heavy wood and although he had put his shirt back on, I could still see the muscles tensing beneath the material. 

“You’re right, you were right…” I began, my voice was filled with uncertainty and I had to clear my throat before I could continue. Derek’s green eyes were focused on me and he stayed completely still as he waited for me to go on. 

“You make me really nervous, and I’m definitely frightened...I want to say I’m not frightened of you, or this entire situation...but I am. I don’t know how ordinary people usually cope with finding out about the supernatural but I’m certainly beginning to doubt my entire existence,” I scoffed and folded my arms over my stomach.  
“And I haven’t changed my clothes in three days...that’s not ok,” I finalised, quickly realising that Derek had a somewhat smug smirk on his face.

“Oh come on, it’s not exactly something to be so happy about, a girl like me thinking you’re sort of intimidating and... sort of drop dead gorgeous? It’s no big accomplishment,” I chewed anxiously on my nails as I tried my best to shut myself up, in the end I resigned myself to humiliation and sunk down to the floor, allowing my head to slump down onto my knees. 

“I’m an idiot,” I sighed.

I could hear the gentle swish of bare feet on the bathroom tiles as Derek entered, soon enough the warmth of his shoulder was pressed against mine. I turned my head to the side so that I could prepare myself for his mocking - instead, his expression was relatively serious, if not somewhat neutral.  
“You need to stop thinking that you’re not handling this situation the way you’re expected to. Give yourself a little credit,” He shook his head, “Stop acting like you’re nothing...the primal is after you for a reason, you’re something, Violet, even if we don’t know what yet. Take comfort in the fact that if they wanted you dead, they’d have killed you by now.” 

“Oh gee, thanks...that really helps me, I feel so much better now,” I playfully punched Derek’s arm but quickly came to a halt when the solid muscle caused my knuckles to ache. I shook the slight pain away and heard Derek’s low, grunt of a laugh. 

“Easy tiger,” He said mockingly.  
I went quiet for a moment as the tension caught up with the close proximity of our bodies and the silence surrounding us in the closed off bathroom.

I cleared my throat for what felt like the hundredth time before I spoke again, “What were you doing before you were rescuing damsels in distress?” Derek’s eyes glanced down to the ground before he looked off, focusing on something distant. 

“I lost some people,” He stated abruptly, “It’s taking longer than I thought to track them down.”

“Family? Or…”   
“Beta’s,” Derek replied, glancing over towards me. 

“Like...baby werewolves?” I raised my eyebrows in question and Derek let out a low laugh which, in my opinion, was lacking any real humour.

“You could say that.” 

“I could help you look for them...once this is finished, I’m guessing I’ll have a lot of time on my hands considering I’m practically an orphan.” 

“You’re not an orphan,” Derek replied bluntly.  
“I know that...not technically…” I paused, fiddling with my fingertips “I feel alone though, but I guess that’s nothing new.” 

“Sometimes alone is better,” Derek said with a melancholy smile and our eyes locked with one another’s. I could feel the heat of Derek’s breath on my lips, it caused an echo of something dark and new to shudder over my thighs and abdomen. He moved closer, so much so that I could smell the blood still dampening his t shirt. I wanted so badly to jump at him, give in to all of my instincts and latch my mouth onto his; wrap my arms around his neck…

“Derek!” A clatter came from outside the bathroom door and Scott’s voice called out urgently. I moved away from Derek and vice versa, a look of exasperation was painted across his face and I couldn’t help but laugh.  
“WHAT?!” Derek yelled, causing me to jump.

“Sorry, there’s an emergency,” Scott replied through the closed door.  
“When is there ever not an emergency in this place?” Derek replied sarcastically before he turned back to me and offered me a hand to my feet. I accepted, already self-conscious about how sweaty and trembling my hands were.

“What happened to you?” Scott asked as he appeared in the doorway, his eyes were focused on the bloodstains patterning Derek’s t-shirt.

“I’m fine, what’s the emergency?” Derek said as he shoved past Scott and moved to lean his back against the kitchen counter.

“There was an attack last night, the primal,” Scott replied, his dark eyes wide and filled with concern.

“If you’re talking about the one at Violet’s house, yeah, we know,” Derek said, “We were there.”  
“There was an attack at Violet’s house? Why were you guys there? I thought you were supposed to be keeping her out of the way of danger not throwing her into it?” Scott stammered, his eyes moving between Derek and me.

“What attack are you talking about?” Derrek’s brow furrowed.  
“Deaton, his car was wrecked last night. He told police it was an accident but I spoke to him, he says it was the primal,” Scott paused, “He thinks he knows why it’s going after Violet.”

“I’m sorry who are we talking about?” I asked, suddenly feeling even more in the dark than I had done a few minutes ago – something I thought wouldn’t have been possible.

“My boss, he knows about this kind of thing,” Scott clarified, his tone more impatient than usual, “He says he knew your dad.” My expression must have been easy to read because suddenly the room was eerily silent, I tilted my head, trying to make sense of what Scott was saying.  
“What does this have to do with my dad?” I asked.

“I think we need to take her to Deaton, he’ll be able to explain better than I can,” Scott’s eyes moved to Derek and I watched as he gave a subtle nod.   
“Let me change, I’ll drive,” Derek mumbled as he moved away from the kitchen counter and towards his bedroom, leaving Scott and I standing uncomfortably at either side of the room.

“The attack last night, are you ok?” He asked gently.

I laughed apathetically, “Oh yeah, I’m peachy. Watched my mom get attacked by that _thing_, then continued to watch as it attacked Derek,” I shook my head, trying to dispel the tears threatening to spill from my tired eyes.

“She knew what it was, seems she isn’t as dull as I thought she was,” I finalised, more for myself than Scott. He nodded, his eyes scanning the ground as if he were trying to think of something supportive to say.

“We’ll fix this,” The answer Scott had settled on was clearly intended to make me feel better but it wasn’t working. There was still a knot of fear threatening the contents of my stomach. I held my hands tightly in front of me, digging my thumb nail into my palm in the hope it would distract me.

“Let’s go,” Derek nodded a she pulled his jacket up over his shoulders with a wince. Scott exited the loft first, leaving me to move past Derek. I lowered my voice as best I could and tried to disguise my shaking.

“Are you sure you’re up for this? You’re in pain,” I whispered, just low enough for Derek to hear me. His expression was strangely soft as he stared down at me.

“I’m fine,” He assured, nudging me towards the door with a firm hand to my back. Such an innocent touch shouldn’t have filled my head with inappropriate images but it _absolutely_ did.

Much to my surprise, we didn’t pull up at some old, creepy building like the last time Derek had taken me to visit someone who may or may not be able to help. Instead he parked the car outside Beacon Hills animal hospital.

“This guy is a vet?” I asked, my voice sounding louder and slightly irater than I had intended.

“Yeah,” Scott replied, climbing out the car, “But he’s also sort of…involved.” I climbed out of the car and followed Scott and Derek inside. A bell by the door jingled as we entered and I tried to push my nerves to one side as we waited for the mysterious Deaton to arrive at the front desk. The door opened and a bald-headed man appeared, his skin youthful but his dark eyes telling of the things he’d seen.

“You must be Violet,” His gentle voice caught me off guard and I found myself nodding furiously at his statement. “Come in,” He motioned for us all to follow, holding the small gateway open as the three of us entered. I found myself sticking closer to Derek, something which seemed both strange and natural as Deaton closed the door and moved over to the silver table in the centre of the small, dark room.

“Scott said you might be able to help,” Derek’s voice boomed from beside me and I hugged my arms across my stomach, trying my hardest to dampen my nerves.

“I knew your father, quite well,” Deaton said, his eyes locking with mine and forcing me to swallow the bile threatening to rise in my throat.

“That makes one of us, apparently,” I replied, causing Deaton to smile kindly.

“I’m guessing your mother never told you about him?” He asked.

I shook my head, “I knew him, he was normal as far as I knew…my mother doesn’t talk about him, not since he…” My voice cracked and I glanced down to the floor as I breathed. The gentle touch of a hand against my back caused me to look towards Derek, who nodded encouragingly.

“Your father acted as an advisor to a pack,” Deaton announced, “A werewolf pack.”

I shook my head, anxiously curling a strand of hair between my fingertips, “No. No he didn’t. He had a normal job. He was normal, we all were. Until whatever this primal thing is decided to take a late night stroll around the library my life was entirely mundane.”  
Deaton lifted his hands as if to silence me, “Rhodes acted as the healer for a group of werewolves for many years, it was a large pack, he moved you all around the country following them. Making sure to stay close to their alpha…” He paused for a split second, “I knew him because he wasn’t just an advisor for werewolves, he was an advisor for all of us.”

“All of us? All of who exactly?” I snapped; my nerves quickly being replaced by anger.

Deaton’s eyes moved from me to Derek, to Scott as he considered his next words carefully, “Druids, sorcerers, pagans. Those who used knowledge to aid in the balance between natural and supernatural. Your father was key in upholding the council of emissaries.”

I laughed, shaking my head, “I’m through with this, all of this,” I looked towards Derek but his face revealed nothing. I moved to take a step towards the exit but Derek caught my arm in his hand, pulling me back.

“Hear him out,” He urged, the words heavy with authority.

“The pack he advised grew too large, the alpha was struggling to protect them. He decided to do something that was hugely frowned upon – he decided to turn his betas feral along with himself. He told them if they gave in to the animal within they would have more power than any opposing packs. Rhodes, your father, told the alpha it was a bad idea, that the pack would lose all control over their animal instincts and that such a thing would risk revealing the entire species to humans.”

“So what? He killed this alpha and now someone’s pissed?” I demanded, struggling to take in all of the new information.

“No,” Deaton shook his head, “He helped them, told them he could train the pack to maintain an air of humanity by performing some unheard-of ancient ritual…the alpha trusted him. Readied his pack, half of them already beginning to give in to their feral instincts.” 

“What was the ritual?” I asked shakily.

“That’s the thing,” Deaton smiled apologetically, “There was no ritual, your father lied. He prepared the false ritual, gathered the pack – knowing they were mad with their need for power and the urge to succumb to the wolf and he used dark magic to kill them all.” Silence ricochet off of the walls as I fought against the need to collapse against the cool floor.

“But one of them survived, didn’t they?” Scott asked, his face torn between horror and interest.

Deaton nodded, “The alpha survived, except he wasn’t an alpha anymore. He’d used what was left of his strength to heal himself, bringing himself back from the brink of death.”

“The primal,” Derek finalised.

“Rhodes Whitcomb visited me soon afterwards, we had known each other for years, he knew he could trust me to help him.”

“None of this explains why this primal is after me, I have nothing to do with this,” I cried, unable to halt the tears from falling this time round.

“Betas are like children to alphas. In the eyes of the alpha, your father killed his children and he swore he would get his revenge. Your father protected you as best he could, he performed a protection ritual over you…an incantation to protect a child.”

“Some ritual,” I scoffed.

“The key is in the term _child. _The moment you turned eighteen, the primal was able to track you down,” Deaton clarified, little emotion showing on his face.

I shook my head, “What is it going to do with me? It had it’s chance to kill me, it didn’t take it,” I thought back to lying on the ground amidst the fallen leaves as the primal breathed in my scent.

“I found that quite unusual too,” Deaton mused, turning and pulling a book from the shelves behind him. “There’s a reason your father sacrificed himself to save you, a reason other than sentiment,” He passed the book to Derek, who studied the pages with a furrowed brow, his bright green eyes focused on the words in front of him.  
“The Nine Priestesses of Sein,” Derek muttered, his focus turning from the book and towards me.

“Sounds like a heavy metal band,” I whispered, trying to ease my nerves.

“She’s one of The Nine,” Deaton confirmed and I suddenly became very aware that everyone’s eyes were now trained solely on me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it has taken me so long to update, I'm so so so sorry! Thank you for the comments/kudos/views I've received so far, you guys are the absolute best and I'm glad people seem to be enjoying the story!

* * *

The loft was in darkness as we entered, Derek closing the door behind him and flicking the light switch. I paused in front of the large window, gazing out into the night as if it would offer me some answers.   
“Can I get you anything?” Derek asked, his footsteps growing closer until he eventually came to a standstill just behind me. I could feel the warmth radiating from him in waves; I pulled my jacket tighter around my shoulders as I tried to stop the close proximity of his body to mine from affecting my judgement.

“An explanation?” I laughed, turning my head and briefly looking up at him.

“I was thinking more like a drink,” Derek mused and I could hear the smirk in his tone.

“Why are you not freaking out about this?” I questioned, turning myself fully until I was face to face with him, my back leaning against the glass.

Derek lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug, “It’s not my life that’s been thrown up in the air, I have no reason to freak out. If anything, this is a good thing.”

I threw my arms up in the air angrily, “A good thing? A good thing?!” I yelled, momentarily surprised by my own volume.

“It means the primal doesn’t necessarily want to kill you,” He said, “In my book, having the bad guy not want to kill you is a reason to celebrate.”

“My entire existence is a lie; my life has been a lie. My father, my mother, they both knew and they never thought it important enough to let me know? Hey, walking target over here, ready and willing to be used against my will,” I waved my hand in the air sarcastically and Derek stifled a laugh. His hand moved to my wrist and he pulled my arm down gently. I found my own mind clouded by the fact that his hand was lingering on my skin. After what felt like an eternity he let go and instantly I wanted the contact back.

“I get that you’re scared,” He began but I cut him off.

“I’m not scared, Derek,” I corrected, “I’m furious…I could have had a semi-normal life, this entire shit storm didn’t start until my eighteenth birthday, right? I could have had friends; I could have gone to a normal school. There is no excuse for my mother keeping me locked away like this was all my fault,” I paused, silence filling the loft as Derek looked over my face. Moments later, he pulled out his phone and dialled a number, lifting his cell to his ear and waiting before walking slowly away from me.

“Yeah, can I get two,” I heard, his voice muffled by the distance between us.

“Thanks,” He added before hanging up and throwing the phone on the desk beside him.

“Who was that? Another weirdo to add into this melting pot of mystery?” I quipped, folding my arms over my stomach and evading his eyes.

“Marco,” Derek replied, stalking over to me and taking the jacket from my shoulders. I watched curiously as he threw it over the back of the sofa before he collapsed into the worn cushions himself.

“Who’s that?” This time it was my turn to frown, a movement that caused the small cut on my forehead to ache.

“He makes pizza, but yeah, you’re not wrong. He is a little weird,” Derek smiled, clearly pleased with himself.

“I’m having an existential crisis and you’re ordering yourself pizza? Really?”

Derek rolled his head back and rubbed a hand over his eyes. I hadn’t realised before but he looked exhausted.

“I didn’t order myself pizza, I ordered _us _pizza. The existential crisis can wait until tomorrow.” My stomach erupted with a perfectly timed growl and I moved my attention to the floor, feeling a little guilty about my emotional outburst. After all, this couldn’t exactly be easy for Derek. He’d brought me in, protected me when no one else could – dragged me around person to person trying to figure out the best way to keep me alive. And what had I given him in return? So far I’d been nothing but an emotional wreck and an all-round pain in the ass.

“It’s food, not a marriage proposal,” Derek broke me from my train of thought, “I can smell your anxiety from here.”

I chewed at the inside of my cheek, “You can smell it?” I asked, moving over to sit on the opposite end of the couch. I pulled my legs up underneath me and focused on his face.

“You’ve said something like that before, that you could smell that I was frightened,” I cleared my throat, “You also said…_amongst other things_,” I imitated his voice as best I could and Derek let out a low chuckle that made me blush.

“It’s a werewolf thing,” Derek replied, his eyes moving down my face and settling on my lips, “Or more of an alpha thing.”  
“What did you mean when you said amongst other things?” I whispered, straining to force the words out my mouth. His eyes were heavy, his dark brows drooped in thought. As much as I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at his broad shoulders and the muscles as they twitched beneath the pale skin of his arms. 

“Lust,” His voice was almost a purr as his eyes dropped to settle on my lips. I was suddenly very aware of how close we were. I gulped, trying not to pay attention to the pounding of my heart in my ears.

“Well that’s embarrassing,” I whispered, my eyes settling on my nervously entwined hands but they didn’t stay there for long as Derek moved his hand to tilt my chin upwards.

“You asked,” Derek smirked as his fingers moved from my chin, the rough pad of his thumb softly pressed against my bottom lip. I had to fight against the overwhelming urge to latch my mouth onto the digit but the battle was abandoned in one swift moment as his thumb left my lip and his hand travelled to grasp the back of my neck. There was a dull ache low in my stomach and a heat swelling in my core, I internally cursed myself for sitting cross-legged as I so desperately needed some form of friction – not just empty space.

Derek’s grasp tightened on the back of my neck as he pulled me towards him. I followed his lead, having genuinely no idea what I was doing. His other hand reached out and gripped onto my jean-clad hip – he tugged me closer to him until I was forced into his lap, my legs at either side of his thighs. His hand left my side, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake as it moved to my lower back, sinking lower until his large, warm hand was cupping my backside. I closed my eyes, unable to cope with the unyielding stare of his own green irises as he tortured me with each slight touch.

“If this is some cruel act of pity, I don’t want it,” My voice trembled with each word as I tried to concentrate on anything other than Derek’s hands on me.

“The pizza might have been pity,” Derek grinned, flashing those sharp, white teeth of his and sending another shudder to my most southern nerves.

“But this,” He continued as his touch moved from my neck down towards my chest, his fingertips toying the neckline of my shirt. In an effort to stifle a groan, I bit down on my lip hard enough to draw a drop of blood.

“This might just be the wolf,” Derek finalised as his lips pressed to mine, hard enough that I winced against his hot mouth as his tongue flicked over the small puncture wound my teeth had left behind. My hands instinctively moved across his broad shoulders and around his neck as I tried my best not to ruin this moment by overthinking it. Yet as Derek’s hands travelled to the hem of my shirt, his fingertips pressing roughly into the untouched flesh of my back – I found myself pulling away from the comfort of his lips. His eyes locked onto mine, the bright green replaced with a fiery red.

“As ridiculously good looking as you are,” I blurted out, trying to act unfazed by his eyes, “I can’t help the feeling you’re trying to make me feel better by giving me some of those life experiences I keep complaining about not having and…maybe I shouldn't have spent so much complaining about myself. I have this horrible tendency to succumb to self pity and...” I hadn’t noticed before quite how breathless I was. Derek looked surprisingly hurt as he closed his eyes, I presumed he was trying to rid himself of his alpha eyes yet as they opened, the crimson was still glowing fiercely against the fading light of the loft.

“I don’t know what that was,” He frowned, refusing to look at me.

“I’m going to, um…” I motioned to the side of the sofa awkwardly before lifting myself from him and sliding across the other side of the cushions, far enough away from Derek that I could think a little clearer.

“I’m sorry, Vi,” Derek mumbled as he lifted himself from the couch and began pacing the floor.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something here?” I asked but my voice didn’t halt Derek’s movements. He shook his head and rubbed his hand over his face, my eyes were fixed on his long fingers – the thumb that had been so close to my mouth just moments ago. A blush crept up my neck and burned my cheeks as I tried to steady my breathing.

“And did you just call me Vi?” My brow twisted into a frown and finally Derek’s movements paused, he lifted his eyes to glance at me beneath his dark lashes.

“That’s what you’re focusing on?” He asked with a laugh but it wasn’t the lighthearted reaction it should have been. Instead, it filled me with discomfort.

“What do you want me to say?” I asked, wide-eyed. “I have no clue why someone like you would kiss me? True. I don’t know why you’re keeping me here or why you’re still trying to protect me? Also true. Why do I trust you?” My voice grew quiet as the words quivered between my lips.

“I’m not the good guy,” Derek yelled, his voice catching me off guard. I moved to my feet, startled by the sudden change in the atmosphere.

“You’re not exactly the bad guy, either,” I replied. The door shuddered with a loud knock, interrupting us. Derek huffed a low growl as he moved to answer it. A delivery guy stood with his best customer service smile and Derek thrust a handful of money at him and took the two pizzas from his hands – slamming the door without so much as a thanks. I watched intently as he threw the pizza boxes down on the coffee table and moved to run his hands back through his raven hair.

“If I’m going to keep you safe from the primal, I can’t afford to get sucked in by your constant need for reassurance. You need to grow up, Violet. Stop with this whole dim, childish defense you’ve built for yourself and accept that you’re more than just a victim of your parent's shitty choices.” My stomach lurched with the truth in his words and I instinctively moved my hand to grasp at my abdomen as my eyes filled with unwanted tears. I didn’t trust myself to answer him, instead, I just grabbed my jacket from the back of the sofa and pushed my arms through as quickly as my shaking limbs could manage.

“What are you doing?” Derek sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Dropping the defences,” I said, “Maybe you should do the same.” My legs carried me towards the door, my hand pausing against the handle as I tried to fight back the fear that was telling me this idea was a terrible one. With as much bravery I could muster I pulled the door open and jogged down the staircase, a large part of me praying that Derek would follow.

Very quickly I realised I had nowhere else to go. Derek had been masking me with his scent – that had been the plan all along, but having spoken to Deaton and finding out that the primal didn’t necessarily want me dead…I figured it wasn’t entirely impossible for me to go home. I needed to find answers and there was only one person that could give them to me.

The rain was heavy but not heavy enough to stop me from walking the six miles to my family home. The lights were on, my mother's silhouette was visible through the kitchen window and I walked up swiftly and knocked on the window. She pulled the curtains back and scowled before her expression softened with recognition. Immediately she left the window and the front door unlocked.  
“Violet?” She asked as if she didn’t already know it was me.

“You need to tell me everything,” I declared. My mother took a few short moments to consider my words before she stepped aside, allowing me entry to my own home.

She carried the tray through into the sitting room, setting it down on the table in front of me as I warmed my chilled hands in front of the blazing fireplace. I watched her as she poured two cups of scalding tea from the teapot and stirred a spoonful of honey into each. She passed one of the cups to me and I accepted it grudgingly. 

“Where would you like to start?” She asked, her voice was surprisingly calm and matter of fact given my surprise appearance. It was almost as if she had been expecting me for a while now.

“Derek and Scott took me to someone, weirdly it was the town vet,” I laughed apathetically, shaking my head at how ridiculous it sounded.

“Deaton, I know,” My mother replied, taking a short sip from her cup. I raised my eyes in question. “He called me,” She clarified.

“Oh great, at least one of us is kept in the loop around here.” My mother seemed to wince at my words.

“I wanted to tell you but...Violet, I just couldn’t risk it,” She said, setting her cup back down on the table and taking a seat next to me. Surprisingly, her hands moved to clasp mine – her dry, aging skin rough against my own.

“How exactly was telling me a risk? You had years to prepare me for this. Deaton said that right up until my eighteenth birthday I was safe, right?” I paused, trying to gather myself and push any anxiety from the forefront of my mind. “So why not spend those years getting me ready for the primal?”

She took a long, slow inhale as her hands left mine to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Where was I supposed to start?”

“I mean letting me know that my dad wasn’t an accountant would have been a good start,” I scoffed, distracting myself by looking deep into the dancing flames of the fire heating the room.

“Your dad was brought up in a family of emissaries, it was always going to be in his future to advise a pack. We didn’t know he would end up leading the council of emissaries, it wasn’t something we expected,” she paused, grasping her cup in her hands once again and taking a deep gulp. “It was foretold by the council that something was coming, something powerful, unusual. One of the Nine…the first in hundreds of years.”

“That’s what Deaton said, that I was one of the nine priestesses of…something,” I mumbled, waiting for my mother to continue. She nodded slowly before she decided to speak.

“The Nine Priestesses of Sein were a legend, they were also known as the Gallizenae…a group of female druid priestesses that lived on an island in western Brittany. Of course, a lot of this legend was fiction but the general existence of the nine was true and so was the stories of their power. They were elementals – they could manipulate water, fire, air, earth. There was also evidence that they had the gift of foresight and healing. A lot of the older emissaries had books that told them they were able to shapeshift into different animals but…that was one of the things that turned out to be confused in translation. They couldn’t shapeshift but the nine were linked _to_ the shapeshifters, they had the ability to make packs stronger, more powerful.”

“This is making absolutely no sense, mom,” I snapped, breaking my mother from her story-telling daze.

“The emissaries were told that a birth was coming, it would happen on the blood moon eclipse at the foot of Nemeton. The child that was born would be one of the Nine, endowed with the powers of her ancestors.”

“Let me take a wild stab in the dark here and say that was me?” My voice was sharper than I had intended but my mother’s rambling fairy tale was causing a wave of anger to bubble up inside me that I was struggling to control.

“It was,” she breathed, “As soon as you were born your father was made the leader of the council of emissaries and we were told to keep you safe until you were of age, where you would take over.”

“But that didn’t happen,” I finalised.

“No, the pack your father was advising turned rogue a few years later and everything was turned upside down. We had to leave the council after he killed the pack and go into hiding, which ultimately meant that you weren’t given the training and education you should have had,” her voice trembled with tears, “When we found out the alpha had survived, your father sacrificed himself to perform a protection ritual. If the alpha had found you he would have used your power to destroy the council of emissaries…we had hoped by the time the ritual was broken that the alpha had been found and killed.”

“But he wasn’t,” I confirmed.

“They could never find him,” she continued, “So now, he’s found you but he’s weak, he doesn’t have a pack. He looks terrifying, he’s rabid with the need to take his revenge but if you can tap into your power you might be able to do what your father and the council never could.”  
“So I’m just supposed to kill this huge monster on my own? Wow, great, you’ve been a big help,” I stood from my place on the sofa and threw the damp towel I’d had wrapped around my shoulders off to the side. I was about to turn and leave when there was a loud crash at the front of the house, both me and my mother turned to look to where the noise had come from.

“Violet, get upstairs,” She said matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“Go upstairs, now!” She screamed, just at the front door splintered and glass shattered into the room. I willed myself to move but my legs were locked as I watched the primal appear through the hole in the wall. My mother moved to stand in front of me, her arms held out at either side as if she could protect me. In one quick flash of movement, the pale-skinned beast slashed its clawed hand across her front, sending her flying in a heap to the wall.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” The primal’s voice broke through the silence with a low growl and I tried to take a step back, my heart pounding in my ears and my throat constricted with a terrified scream that just couldn’t sound.

It reached out and grasped my throat, lifting me from the ground until my bare feet were dangling helplessly beneath me. My hands scratched at its arms as my lungs fought for any chance of a breath. It was as if this wasn’t happening to me, I felt like I was watching from another corner of the room as the primal brought it’s other hand back and drove it into the flesh of my stomach. I couldn’t feel its claws as they penetrated the skin and sunk into the muscle, I could feel the warm blood as it dripped from the wounds. I could feel the cool darkness as it seeped into the corners of my vision.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the kudos and comments, they have been making me soooooo happy whilst I fight the cold from hell! <3

* * *

There were so many sounds coming from around me I struggled to concentrate on just one. There was the huffing of breath, a rhythmic pounding, muffled words.

“Come on,” Someone said, their voice sounded a million miles away, “Violet, come on,” It repeated, my name felt so familiar coming from them, yet still I couldn’t figure out who it was. Moments later, a warmth spread across my lips and my lungs ached with the stretch of accommodating foreign oxygen.

I lurched forward, a cough tearing up through my throat as agony burned in my stomach and chest. My eyes opened and were met with a spotty darkness; flashes of bright lights and blurred outlines appeared and disappeared.

“She’s back,” the voice came again, louder this time. “Violet, can you hear me?”

“Derek?” I groaned, my voice barely above a hoarse whisper as my eyes began to focus on the room I was in. Memories came flooding back in a chaotic stream.

“Calm down, you’re fine,” Derek soothed and I became very aware of his warm hand as it stroked the hair back from my clammy forehead.

“Where am I? What happened?” I asked urgently, my voice breaking.

“You’re still at home, the primal came after you once it caught your scent,” Scott’s voice rung out from beside me and I turned to face him. I spotted him and Stiles off to my left and frowned as more of the room came into focus.

“My mom?” The words came out of my mouth so quietly that I was sure no one would have heard my question but I watched Derek as his eyes glanced off to the side, refusing to meet with my own.

“She’s dead. Isn’t she?” I stuttered. Derek finally turned back to me, his jaw tense and his eyes filled with pity. “Oh,” I breathed, trying to digest the news that my only surviving parent was gone. I’d never seen eye to eye with my mother, she’d always been cold and calculating when it came to raising me. Of course, now I knew why. I felt like maybe I hadn’t known her very well at all.

“We should get her to the hospital,” Stiles broke the silence with his gentle tone.

“No,” Derek snapped, “I’ll take her to the loft. I can manage her wounds there and she’ll be safe.”

“Oh yeah because that worked out so well last time?” Stiles sounded uncharacteristically furious and I watched as Derek shot him a look that could kill but that didn’t stop him.

“All I’m saying is you said you’d keep her safe before and look what happened,” He continued.

“Stiles,” Scott urged, shooting a warning look to his friend. Derek’s eyes had dipped and I realised his hand was covering my own. I wondered how long it had been settled there, against my own.

“She comes with me,” Derek finalised as he moved to slip his arms beneath me. I hissed as he lifted me from the ground and the pain erupted in my chest and stomach. He held me close to his chest as he carried me out of the wreck that used to be my family home and towards Stiles’ jeep. My hands wrapped instinctively around the thin material of his t-shirt, grabbing fistfuls of the soft cotton as I tried not to whimper with the pain. He gently slid into the backseat, keeping me tucked against his broad chest. I heard Stiles and Scott as they closed their own doors in the front and I winced as the jeep rattled to a start.

“How’s the pain?” Derek asked and I realised I’d had my eyes tightly shut as I pressed myself closer to him, revelling in the comforting warmth he radiated.

“The pain is definitely there,” I replied, trying my best not to move. “Yup, there’s definitely pain.”

“Just try to relax,” Derek soothed, one of his hands moving until it came to rest against the bare skin at the base of my neck. Slowly it was as if the pain started to melt away; my muscles began to relax and I could feel myself sinking into sleep.

Sunlight was the first thing I noticed when I finally found the strength to open my eyes. I blinked lazily against the bright light before burying my face in the softness of the pillow.

“You’re awake.” Derek’s voice sounded from beside me and I felt the bed dip as he sat down. I reluctantly turned from the pillow to look at him – his face was different, his expression filled with sadness. The rough facial hair covering his jawline was longer than usual and his eyes were dark.

“You look terrible,” I groaned, trying to turn myself so that I was fully facing him.

“Thanks.” He smiled but the expression didn’t reach his eyes, “how are you feeling?”

“Like I got empaled by a giant monster werewolf.” I tried to keep my tone as light as possible but my description was wholly accurate. The pain was less, more like a dull, constant ache but my head was filled with cotton wool and my limbs felt like they weighed a tonne. I was pretty sure I felt as exhausted as Derek looked.

“I have to change your bandage.” Derek moved from the bed and I watched as he walked over to the desk and pulled out a few different packets from a drawer. He set a bundle of bandages and cotton wool down beside the bed before lifting the sheets from me, rolling them down until they were settled at my hips. He didn’t hesitate as he pulled the t-shirt up over my stomach and tucked it in just beneath my breasts. I shivered at the sudden coolness.

“Sorry,” He mumbled as he began pealing the bloodied bandages from my abdomen.

“You don’t have to do this,” I whispered, studying every micromovement on his face, trying to gauge how he was feeling.

“I remember saying something like that to you just a couple days ago,” He replied as he tossed the dirty bandages to one side and reached back for a few packets of sterile saline. He tore into the corners of the packets before emptying the contents out over my wound. I grimaced at the sting the cold liquid inflicted and his eyes shifted up to mine before he grabbed the cotton wool pads to his right.

“What a strange twist my mundane life has taken, one day I’m a weirdo recluse working at the library, the next I’m being nursed by a werewolf that looks like a male model,” I smiled weakly as Derek gently moved the cotton wool pads across my skin, cleaning away the dried blood.

“Violet, I…” He stilled, exhaling loudly as his movements paused.

“If you’re about to apologise, don’t.” My hand moved to cover his and he seemed caught off guard. His eyes never left the wound on my stomach.

“I shouldn’t have let you leave the other night.”

“Shut up,” I snapped and Derek finally met my gaze.

“It wouldn’t have been difficult.” He smirked.

I let out a scoff and shook my head, “Yeah, yeah, I get it, poor weak little human doesn’t stand a chance against alpha werewolf. Blah, blah, blah.” My words seemed to lift his lips into a genuine smile for a split second before it faded once again.

“Your mom is dead because of me…you could have died, because of me.” His words were laced with regret and guilt and I felt my heart ache for him and for me.   
“My mother is dead because of the primal, not you. I made the stupid decision to leave that night, despite everything I had been told. I wanted answers and nothing, no one, could have stopped me from going to my mom that night. Stop putting all the blame on yourself for something that had nothing to do with you.” My words seemed to have little effect on Derek. Yet he moved his hand away from my injury and up towards my face. My eyes widened as he folded my hair behind my ear, his thumb lingering on my cheek. He wiped away a stray tear that I hadn’t even noticed had fallen. Despite the drama of the last few hours, I could feel my stomach bubbling with nerves as his eyes focused on my lips. I desperately wanted to sit up and catch his lips with my own – show him that I didn’t blame him, that it wasn’t his fault. Mostly though, I just wanted to feel him. I wanted to feel close to him and I couldn’t through rational thought explain why. All I knew was that the need to have him close to me was enough to make my heart beat a little faster and my breath to fall from my lungs a lot quicker. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I barely noticed as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. My entire body froze as his lips moulded against my own, his hand snaked to the back of my head and urged me closer to him. The kiss was considerate and peaceful and it ended far too quickly for my liking.

As he pulled away, his eyes flicked opening, revealing the crimson irises I’d grown surprisingly accustomed to seeing. But they seemed different; his expression wasn’t the relaxed, calm one I had been expecting. Instead, he moved further back from me, his still locked on my own.

“Violet,” He muttered, crooking his neck in curiosity.

“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling way more vulnerable than I would have liked.

“Your eyes,” Derek whispered, but the quiet of his voice seemed to be more for himself than me. His hand moved to cup my face as his thumb rubbed across my cheekbone.

“What about them?” I urged, beginning to get incredibly self conscious. I reached up to touch around my eyes, trying to figure out what exactly Derek seemed so confused about.

“They’ve changed,” He added, getting to his feet and moving to grab a small mirror from his desk. He held the mirror out to me and I kept it grasped in front of me for a few long minutes before I plucked up the courage to look at my reflection. Derek was studying me intently, waiting for me to move the mirror in front of my face. As soon as I did, I gasped, holding the oxygen tight in my lungs whilst I stared at the unfamiliar gaze looking back at me.

My once dark orbs _had_ changed. Staring back at me was a wholly unsettling set of pale purple irises that certainly didn’t look as human as I felt.

“What is this?” I breathed, peeling my attention away from the mirror to stare at Derek, who’s arms were folded across himself.

“I don’t know,” He replied, “I’m sorry but I have no idea what this is.” His admission felt even more terrifying than my changed appearance. I blinked furiously before looking back at the mirror to check for any change but they remained the same.

“What do I do?” My voice was way above the careful whisper now; I was practically yelling at Derek.

“We’ll figure it out, just don’t hurt yourself,” He laughed apathetically, sitting back down on the bed next to me and removing the mirror from my grasp. Derek caught my stare once again and smirked.

“Why are you staring at me like that? Do I look that ridiculous? What if I’m dying? What if this has something to do with the primal getting me with its claws? Oh my god, am I turning into a werewolf? Am I turning into a primal?!” I was hyperventilating, my chest racing to keep up with my lungs.

“Vi,” Derek said softly, sounding almost amused by my reaction. “I’ll speak to Deaton but first, I have to finish changing your bandages. Just…try and stop talking for five seconds and lie back down.” He raised an eyebrow as I made no attempt to move, “Please?” I huffed begrudgingly and allowed myself to fall back onto the soft pillows beneath, sending a waft of Derek’s refreshing scent up into the air around me.

Once my bandages were changed and I was comfortably tucked back into Derek’s bed, he’d moved through into the kitchen and called Deaton. To my frustration, he had kept his voice low, so I couldn’t hear what was going on between them. However, I did do my best to keep track of his facial expressions. The way his brow lifted in surprise, how lips parted in question. _Those_ lips. The same ones that had been deliciously tangled with mine. Derek’s footsteps broke me from my daydream and I looked up to find him walking back towards me.

“Deaton’s not worried,” Derek flashed a forced smile and I found it was my turn to raise my eyebrows in question at him.

“Seriously? A fifteen-minute conversation and _that’s_ what you’re giving me?”

Derek rolled his eyes, shaking his head side to side slowly, “You’re impossible, you know that?”

“What? Because I happen to be interested in why my human eyes are now not looking so human anymore?!” I squealed, flinching as the wound on my stomach pulled sharply with my movement.

“Maybe I need to find a better way to get you to keep still,” Derek said teasingly, the look in his eyes darkening as he stared down at me from his perch on the side of the bed.

I gulped, my hands had started to grow clammy and I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my mind on anything other than him.

“Did Deaton say if they’d go back to normal?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the close proximity between Derek and me.

He lifted his shoulders nonchalantly as his fingers toyed with the corner of the sheets.

“Yeah, they will.” Derek cleared his throat and nodded but his answer didn’t exactly make me feel any better. He looked way more awkward than usual.

“When? How? What aren’t you telling me?” I urged, sitting up until I was almost eye to eye with Derek.

Derek’s Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed before he seemed to gather himself enough to answer me.

“They’ll go back to normal as long as…” He did it again, that weirdly un-Derek twitch as he swallowed and cleared his throat. “If we stay far enough away from each other, they’ll go back to normal.”   
My brow furrowed, “What?”

“Violet, you need to rest,” Derek pressed the flat palm of his hand against my sternum and gently pushed me back against the bed once again. I shivered at the close proximity of his hand to my breasts. What was _wrong_ with me?

“Will you stay?” I asked, giving up on my fight for information as I realised how exhausted I still was.

“If you want me to,” Derek replied softly, his hand finding mine – his thumb running small circles across the inside of my wrist. I didn’t get a chance to answer as my eyes began to close and I allowed myself the comfort of falling asleep with Derek’s body so close to mine.


End file.
